This is a posting about understanding the changes we Americans face. If we knew that history – as told by our films and games — was repeating itself, then we might not be as uptight. At least we wouldn’t take the right-wing extremists so seriously.

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 14, 2009) – There is a recurring theme throughout American culture. It’s the conflict between the individual versus society; freedom versus order.

Baseball is the perfect metaphor. The batter symbolizes the individual. He must go up against a pitcher and eight others as represented by society. Eventually that hitter has his turn in the field, or working in a society, to stop the goal of another individual batter.

The times and circumstances will sway how society leans: sometimes for the individual or the common good.

Take Ken Kesey’s classic book and film, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It was a battle between Randle McMurphy, the individual, and Nurse Ratched, who represented society as symbolized by the insane asylum. Clearly, Kesey was an advocate of the individual.

But in the classic war-time film Casablanca, the individual takes a back seat. Rick, the individual, must learn how to return to society as represented by the Allied fight against the Nazis. Clearly, the common good and order in society was the right choice over Rick’s individualism.

Today we’re feeling more Casablanca than Cuckoo’s Nest. Take a look at our economic and political battles.

Right now, society, or the common good, is taking precedent over the individual. As a result, a majority of Americans want more government intervention. And most Americans, it seems, are willing to accept higher taxes on wealthier individuals. In a greedy sense, that’s because most Americans are not as wealthy anymore. But overall, it appears that most Americans are looking for economic order in society.

Those screams of socialism from the extreme right are really fears about quashing individualism and losing what has been the status quo since the 1990s. But fortunately, the majority of us have not allowed the loud mouth fear-mongers like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh to dictate the counter argument. They will make you think anyone against them is either evil or unpatriotic in their attempt to make us all neo-McCarthyites.

Despite the cable entertainers’ outrageous claims, there is a legitimate fear that we might go to far and snuff out individualism and initiative. If we correct the perceived inequalities of the past few years, then we most certainly will see a surge toward individual rights in the coming years.

But right now the forces of society and economics are pushing toward the common good and not the individual. The reasons are: the internet; world trade; and the aging baby-boomers.

The internet – the new distribution network — has done two things. First, it’s democratized society. More people are becoming more informed – or at least more aware or tied into a certain group of thinking. That means the masses have more of a say in government. We saw it in the 2008 election. More young people and more first-generation Americans voted. Those new voters made Barack Obama the new president. If Ronald Reagan ran in 2008, he would have lost.

Second, the internet has dropped the price of goods and services. Read Christopher Anderson’s book The Long Tail. The cost of marketing, packaging, warehousing, and distributing goods is far lower and more efficient.

Take a look at a new concept called the reverse auction I’ve been researching. This is a system where people bid on goods and the prices go down. Once purchased, the product is then shipped to the person worldwide in one day.

If the trend continues as expected, retail stores, as we know them, will be merely warehouses or pick-up spots for online shoppers. Those massive department stores and office buildings, many of them now empty, will soon become community housing.

In addition, the internet allows a worldwide customer base. In the past ten years, we’ve seen Third World countries participate in the world economy. That’s had a double-edge effect. First, there are many more customers to buy goods and services. This forces suppliers to be competitive with better pricing. But secondly, there are more workers who are willing to work for less than American workers. Neither is going away.

Adding to the job woes is the reality that new technologies are not designed to create jobs: they’re designed to reduce labor costs. Right now, I’m looking at internet TV studios that can do the job of a major TV studio with only a one-person crew. As a result, jobs will be scarce. The most secure job will be either highly skilled one or the one you create for yourself.

On top of keeping labor costs low, businesses will have to face higher credit costs. The economic downturn and the tanking of the credit markets will make the cost of borrowing a lot higher for businesses.

Add all this together – higher costs and lower revenues — and businesses will see tighter profit margins. That means we probably won’t see companies or individuals make gargantuan profits as they did in the 1990s and early 2000s. The Roaring 90s are over.

Now add to this the aging baby-boomers. Don’t get me wrong: this group, of which I’m included, is not heading for the rocking chairs. Heck no, they’re going to continue working. Frankly, they have no choice. Their retirement accounts are either too low or gone. And they also need to support sons, daughters and grandchildren caught in the economic downturn and elderly parents who are still alive but need care.

This may be too simplistic, but here’s what most baby-boomers are thinking. “I’ll forego the chance at whopping profits in return for more security.”

That sounds like someone looking to help the common good – not to strike out as an individual.